Cooling system

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a cooling system. The cooling system includes: a first set of fans mounted on an inward-facing side of an air inlet on an outer shell of a case; a second set of fans mounted on an inward-facing side of an air outlet on the outer shell of the case, for generating, in cooperation with the first set of fans, a high-pressure airflow from the air inlet to the air outlet; a first heat sink connected to heat generating component in the case, for absorbing heat from the heat generating component and transferring the absorbed heat to a second heat sink; and the second heat sink mounted on an inward-facing side of the second set of fans and cooled by the high-pressure airflow.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent document claims the priority of and the benefits of ChinesePatent Application No. 201711088430.3 of the same title and content thatwas at the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO) on Nov. 8,2017. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated byreference in its entirety as part of this document.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to autonomous driving technology, andmore particularly, to a cooling system.

BACKGROUND

Currently, in order to achieve autonomous driving of a vehicle,typically one or even more vehicle-mounted computer servers for decisionmaking and controlling are provided on such vehicle. As complicatedtechniques are involved in autonomous driving, it is desired that thevehicle-mounted computer servers could have more powerful functions,with not only high computing capabilities and high processingefficiencies, but also capabilities of running stably for a long time(e.g., high anti-vibration capability and excellent cooling effect).Hence, compared with ordinary computer servers, a vehicle-mountedcomputer server may have a larger number of components to be installedtherein, e.g., a number of sets of core components, such as a number ofCentral Processing Units (CPUs), a number of Graphics Processing Units(GPUs), a number of expansion cards, one or more power sources, and thelike.

Due to a limited space in a vehicle, these core components may typicallybe arranged densely and compactly in a case having a limited space.However, some components (referred to as “heat generating components”hereinafter) will generate heat during their operation. A heatgenerating component may malfunction as its temperature increases. Thus,it is desired to dissipate the heat generated by the heat generatingcomponent timely, so as to ensure that the core component can functionnormally.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a coolingsystem is provided. The cooling system includes: a first set of fansmounted on an inward-facing side of an air inlet on an outer shell of acase; a second set of fans mounted on an inward-facing side of an airoutlet on the outer shell of the case, for generating, in cooperationwith the first set of fans, a high-pressure airflow from the air inletto the air outlet; a first heat sink connected to a heat generatingcomponent in the case, for absorbing heat from the heat generatingcomponent and transferring the absorbed heat to a second heat sink; andthe second heat sink mounted on an inward-facing side of the second setof fans and cooled by the high-pressure airflow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures are provided for facilitating further understanding of thepresent disclosure. The figures constitute a portion of the descriptionand can be used in combination with the embodiments of the presentdisclosure to interpret, rather than limiting, the present disclosure.In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a cooling systemaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic diagrams showing a structure of afirst set of fans and a structure of a second set of fans, respectively;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a first heat sinkincluding a plurality of sets of heat pipes according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a first mountingdevice according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram showing a heat pipe mounted on a heatgenerating component via a first mounting device according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of sets of heat pipesprovided on respective heat generating components according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3E is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a cooling systemaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are schematic diagrams each showing a structure of afirst heat sink including a turbofan heat sink according to someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a first heat sinkincluding a water cooling device according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a layer of cooling fins providedon a surface of a graphics card according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following, the solutions according to the embodiments of thepresent disclosure will be described clearly and completely withreference to the figures, such that the solutions can be betterunderstood by those skilled in the art. Obviously, the embodimentsdescribed below are only some, rather than all, of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure. All other embodiments that can be obtained bythose skilled in the art based on the embodiments described in thepresent disclosure without any inventive efforts are to be encompassedby the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides a cooling system, capable of cooling aheat generating component in a computer server quickly, so as to ensurethat the heat generating component can function stably. With the coolingsystem according to the present disclosure, a first heat sink maytransfer the heat generated by the heat generating component directly tothe second heat sink, and then the first set of fans and the second setof fans generate a high-pressure airflow for cooling the second heatsink. With the cooling system according to the present disclosure, onone hand, the first heat sink may transfer the heat generated by theheat generating component directly and quickly to the second heat sink,so as to increase the speed of heat dissipation and ensure that the heatgenerating component may function stably. On the other hand, the secondheat sink is arranged near the air outlet on the outer shell of thecase, such that the high-pressure airflow may dissipate the heat on thesecond heat sink quickly to the outside of the case, thereby furtherincreasing the speed of heat dissipation and improving the coolingeffect.

The cooling system according to the embodiment of the present disclosuremay be applied to a vehicle-mounted computer server in an unmannedvehicle, a computer server in an unmanned plane, a computer server in anunmanned ship, a robot, or any other computer servers for which heatdissipation is desired. The present disclosure is not limited to anyspecific application scenario.

Referring to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram showing a structure ofa cooling system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,the cooling system is provided within a case including a heat generatingcomponent. An air inlet and an air outlet are provided on two panels onopposite sides of an outer shell of the case, respectively. The coolingsystem includes a first set of fans 1, a first heat sink 2, a secondheat sink 3 and a second set of fans 4.

The first set of fans 1 is mounted on an inward-facing side of the airinlet on the outer shell of the case.

The second set of fans 4 is mounted on an inward-facing side of the airoutlet on the outer shell of the case, for generating, in cooperationwith the first set of fans 1, a high-pressure airflow from the air inletto the air outlet.

The first heat sink 2 is connected to the heat generating component inthe case, for absorbing heat from the heat generating component andtransferring the absorbed heat to the second heat sink 3.

The second heat sink 3 is mounted on an inward-facing side of the secondset of fans 4 and cooled by the high-pressure airflow.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first set of fans 1and the second set of fans 4 may each include a plurality of fans. Thenumber of fans in each set may be configured flexibly depending onactual requirements. For example, the more components for which heatdissipation is desired, or the larger the space for which heatdissipation is desired, the more fans may to be mounted. FIG. 2A is aschematic diagram showing a structure of the first set of fans 1. FIG.2B is a schematic diagram showing a structure of the second set of fans4. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, the first set of fans 1 and the second set offans 4 each include four fans.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second heat sink 3may be configured as cooling fins formed in one piece, or a plurality ofsets of cooling fins. This may be configured flexibly by those skilledin the art depending on actual requirements and the present disclosureis not limited to any of these configurations.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first heat sink 2 mayhave any of the following structures.

Structure 1: The first heat sink 2 includes a plurality of sets of heatpipes 21, each set of heat pipes 21 corresponding to one heat generatingcomponent.

Structure 2: The first heat sink 2 includes a plurality of turbofan heatsinks 22 each corresponding to one heat generating component.

Structure 3: The first heat sink 2 includes at least one water coolingdevice 23 each corresponding to a plurality of heat generatingcomponents.

Structure 4: The first heat sink 2 includes at least one set of heatpipes 21 and at least one turbofan heat sink 22, each set of heat pipes21 corresponding to one heat generating component and each turbofan heatsink 22 corresponding to one heat generating component.

Structure 5: The first heat sink 2 includes at least one set of heatpipes 21 and at least one water cooling device 23, each set of heatpipes 21 corresponding to one heat generating component and each watercooling device 23 corresponding to a plurality of heat generatingcomponents.

Structure 6: The first heat sink 2 includes at least one turbofan heatsink 22 and at least one water cooling device 23, each turbofan heatsink 22 corresponding to one heat generating component and each watercooling device 23 corresponding to a plurality of heat generatingcomponents.

Structure 7: The first heat sink 2 includes at least one set of heatpipes 21, at least one turbofan heat sink 22 and at least one watercooling device 23, each set of heat pipes 21 corresponding to one heatgenerating component, each turbofan heat sink 22 corresponding to oneheat generating component and each water cooling device 23 correspondingto a plurality of heat generating components.

In the following, the above Structures 1, 2 and 3 will be described indetail with reference to the figures, such that the structures of theabove heat pipe 21, turbofan heat sink 22 and water cooling device 23can be better understood by those skilled in the art.

Embodiment 1

Referring to FIG. 3A, which is a schematic diagram showing an exemplarystructure of a first heat sink 2 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the first heat sink 2 includes a plurality of setsof heat pipes 21. Each set of heat pipes 21 corresponds to one heatgenerating component, and includes at least one heat pipe each havingone end 21 a connected to the one heat generating component and anotherend 21 b connected to the second heat sink.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, for different heatgenerating components, different numbers of heat pipes may be includedin their corresponding sets of heat pipes. For example, the higher thepower of the heat generating component is, the larger number of heatpipes its corresponding set of heat pipes will include. For example,each GPU may correspond to a set of four copper heat pipes each having adiameter of 8 mm.

In order to further increase the contact area between the heat pipes andthe heat generating component and thus the speed at which the heat pipesabsorb the heat, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heatgenerating component may have its surface coated with a layer ofthermally conductive silicone grease. The one end 21 a of each heat pipein each set of heat pipes may be connected to the heat generatingcomponent via a first mounting device.

In an example, the first mounting device may have a structure shown inFIG. 3B. As shown, the first mounting device includes a heat pipe basec1 and a heat pipe cover c2. The heat pipe base c1 is mounted fixedly onthe thermally conductive silicone grease for the heat generatingcomponent, and has a plurality of grooves or slots provided on its topfor mounting the heat pipes. The one end 21 a of each heat pipe in eachset of heat pipes is pressed tightly onto the heat pipe base c1 by theheat pipe cover c2, as shown in FIG. 3C. The heat pipe base c1 and theheat pipe cover c2 may be fastened to each other by screws or bolts.

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram showing a structure in which a pluralityof sets of heat pipes are provided on respective heat generatingcomponents.

FIG. 3E is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a cooling systemincluding a first set of fans 1, a first heat sink 2, a second heat sink3 and a second set of fans 4.

Of course, in another example, the first mounting device may include aheat pipe base and a heat pipe cover. The heat pipe base is mountedfixedly on the thermally conductive silicone grease for the heatgenerating component, and the heat pipe cover has at least one groove orslot provided at its bottom for mounting the at least one heat pipe. Theone end 21 a of each heat pipe in each set of heat pipes is pressedtightly onto the heat pipe base by the heat pipe cover. The heat pipebase and the heat pipe cover may be fastened to each other by screws orbolts.

Of course, in another example, the first mounting device may include aheat pipe base, which is mounted fixedly on the thermally conductivesilicone grease for the heat generating component. The one end 21 a ofeach heat pipe in each set of heat pipes is welded to the heat pipebase.

In order to further increase the speed of heat dissipation, in anembodiment of the present disclosure, each of the heat pipe cover c2 andthe heat pipe base c1 of the above first mounting device may have itssurface coated uniformly with a layer of thermally conductive siliconegrease, and/or the one end 21 a of the heat pipe may have its surfacecoated uniformly with a layer of thermally conductive silicone grease.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat pipe may include apipe shell, a wick within the pipe shell and a pipe cover for sealingthe pipe shell. The pipe shell may be filled with a volatile liquidhaving a low boiling point.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the wick may be made of aporous material.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, air may be drawn out to forma negative pressure of 1.3*10⁻¹˜1.3*10⁻⁴ Pa inside the pipe shell andthen the pipe shell may be filled with the volatile liquid having thelow boiling point. When the wick is filled with the liquid, the pipeshell is sealed with the pipe cover.

The principle of the heat pipe absorbing the heat from the heatgenerating component and transferring the absorbed heat to the secondheat sink 3 may be as follows. When the one end 21 a of the heat pipe isheated, the liquid in the wick is vaporized into vapor and the heatgenerated by the heat generating component may be absorbed during thevaporization of the liquid. The vapor flows towards the other end 21 bof the heat pipe, subject to a small pressure, and is liquefied into aliquid when meeting the second heat sink 3 having a relatively lowtemperature at the other end 21 b (as the second heat sink 3 iscontinuously cooled by the high-pressure airflow, it has a lowertemperature than the heat pipe). During the liquefaction of the vapor,heat is released to the second heat sink 3. The liquid flows back to theone end 21 a, subject to a capillary force of the wick. Cyclically inthis way, the heat generated by the heat generating component may betransferred to the second heat sink 3.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the material of the heatpipe and the type of the liquid may be any of the following: 1) the pipeshell of the heat pipe may be made of copper and the liquid may bewater; 2) the pipe shell of the heat pipe may be made of carbon steeland the liquid may be water; 3) the pipe shell of the heat pipe may bemade of a composite of steel and copper and the liquid may be water; 4)the pipe shell of the heat pipe may be made of aluminum and the liquidmay be acetone; or 5) the pipe shell of the heat pipe may be made ofstainless steel and the liquid may be sodium.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the other end 21 b of eachheat pipe in each set of heat pipes may be connected to the second heatsink 3 by means of welding.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat pipemay have a shape of a prism, e.g., a cylinder or cuboid, and the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

Embodiment 2

Referring to FIG. 4A, which shows another exemplary structure of a firstheat sink 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thefirst heat sink 2 includes a plurality of turbofan heat sinks 22 eachcorresponding to one heat generating component. Each of the plurality ofturbofan heat sinks 22 includes a cooling fin 22 a connected to the heatgenerating component and a turbofan 22 b. The turbofan 22 b has an airoutlet facing a same direction as the high-pressure airflow. Theturbofan 22 b draws air to blow heat on the cooling fin 22 a to thesecond heat sink 3, as shown in FIG. 4B.

In order to further increase the contact area between the turbofan heatsink 22 and the heat generating component and thus the speed at whichthe heat is absorbed, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, theheat generating component may have its surface coated with a layer ofthermally conductive silicone grease. The cooling fin 22 a of theturbofan heat sink 22 may be mounted fixedly on the thermally conductivesilicone grease for the heat generating component.

Embodiment 3

Referring to FIG. 5, which shows another exemplary structure of a firstheat sink 2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, thefirst heat sink 2 includes at least one water cooling device eachincluding a water cooling pipe 23 a and a water tank 23 b arrangedcyclically. The water cooling pipe 23 a has a water inlet and a wateroutlet each connected to the water tank 23 b. Water in the water coolingpipe 23 a, when flowing through one heat generating component, carriesheat generated by the one heat generating component to the second heatsink 3 and then flows from the second heat sink 3 and through a nextheat generating component.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the heat generatingcomponent may have its surface coated with a layer of thermallyconductive silicone grease. The water cooling pipe 23 a may be mountedon the thermally conductive silicone grease for the heat generatingcomponent via a second mounting device. The water cooling pipe 23 a maybe twisted spirally around the second heat sink 3, or may be arranged inthe second heat sink 3 in a U-shaped structure (as shown in FIG. 5). Thepresent disclosure is not limited to any of these arrangements. Here,the second mounting device may include a heat pipe base and a heat pipecover. The heat pipe base may be mounted on the thermally conductivesilicone grease for the heat generating component and have at least onegroove or slot provided on its top for mounting the at least one watercooling pipe 23 a (the groove may be U-shaped, L-shaped or V-shaped andthe present disclosure is not limited to any of these shapes). The watercooling pipe 23 a may be pressed tightly onto the heat pipe base by theheat pipe cover. The structure of the second mounting device may beidentical to, or similar with, that of the first mounting device anddetails thereof will be omitted here.

In order to further increase the speed of heat dissipation, in anembodiment of the present disclosure, each of the heat pipe cover andthe heat pipe base of the above second mounting device may have itssurface coated uniformly with a layer of thermally conductive siliconegrease, and/or one end of the water cooling pipe 23 a that is connectedto the heat generating component may have its surface coated uniformlywith a layer of thermally conductive silicone grease.

Embodiment 4

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in a furtherexample of a first heat sink 2, the first heat sink 2 includes at leastone set of heat pipes 21 and at least one turbofan heat sink 22, eachset of heat pipes 21 corresponding to one heat generating component andeach turbofan heat sink 22 corresponding to one heat generatingcomponent. For the structures of the heat pipe 21 and the turbofan heatsink 22, reference can be made to the above embodiments and detailsthereof will be omitted here.

For example, some of the heat generating components in the case may eachhave a turbofan heat sink 22 provided thereon and some of the heatgenerating components in the case may each have heat pipes 21 providedthereon. For example, each CPU on a motherboard may correspond to aturbofan heat sink 22, each GPU on a graphics card may correspond to aset of heat pipes 21, and each power source may correspond to a set ofheat pipes 21. As another example, each CPU on a motherboard maycorrespond to a set of heat pipes 21 and each GPU on a graphics card maycorrespond to a turbofan heat sink 22. As yet another example, some ofCPUs on a motherboard may correspond to a set of heat pipes 21 whilesome of the CPUs may correspond to a turbofan heat sink 22, and some ofGPUs on a graphics card can correspond to a set of heat pipes 21 whilesome of the GPUs may correspond to a turbofan heat sink 22. This can beselected flexibly by those skilled in the art depending on actualrequirements and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In order to further improve the efficiency of heat dissipation, in anembodiment of the present disclosure, a layer of cooling fins may beprovided on a surface of a motherboard, for absorbing heat generated byother components on the motherboard. Additionally or alternatively, alayer of cooling fins may be provided on a surface of a graphics card,for absorbing heat generated by other components on the graphics card.The layer of cooling fins provided on the surface of the motherboard andthe layer of cooling fins provided on the surface of the graphics cardmay be cooled using a high-pressure airflow. As shown in FIG. 6, a layerof cooling fins is provided on a surface of a graphics card.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedabove, further alternatives and modifications can be made to theseembodiments by those skilled in the art in light of the basic inventiveconcept of the present disclosure. The claims as attached are intendedto cover the above embodiments and all these alternatives andmodifications that fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Obviously, various modifications and variants can be made to the presentdisclosure by those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, these modifications andvariants are to be encompassed by the present disclosure if they fallwithin the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooling system, comprising: a first set of fansmounted on an inward-facing side of an air inlet on an outer shell of acase; a second set of fans mounted on an inward-facing side of an airoutlet on the outer shell of the case, for generating, in cooperationwith the first set of fans, a high-pressure airflow from the air inletto the air outlet; a first heat sink connected to a heat generatingcomponent in the case, for absorbing heat from the heat generatingcomponent and transferring the absorbed heat to a second heat sink; andthe second heat sink mounted on an inward-facing side of the second setof fans and cooled by the high-pressure airflow, wherein the first heatsink comprises at least one water cooling device each corresponding to aplurality of heat generating components and comprising a water tank anda water cooling pipe which goes through the plurality of heat generatingcomponents, wherein the water cooling pipe has a water inlet and a wateroutlet each connected to the water tank, and wherein the water coolingpipe is structured such to allow water to pass from the water tank toone heat generating component to the second het sink, and then pass fromthe heat sink to a next heat generating component.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the heat generating component has its surface coatedwith a layer of thermally conductive silicone grease, and the watercooling pipe is mounted on the thermally conductive silicone grease forthe heat generating component via a second mounting device, wherein thesecond mounting device comprises a heat pipe base and a heat pipe cover,the heat pipe base being mounted on the thermally conductive siliconegrease for the heat generating component and having at least one grooveor slot provided on its top for mounting the at least one water coolingpipe, and wherein the water cooling pipe is pressed tightly onto theheat pipe base by the heat pipe cover.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe second heat sink comprises at least one set of cooling fins.